"Every time I opened a newspaper in the last month I was being told it would even be a good night if we lost a number of seats; we've won seats.

"If you call that a disappointment then we inhabit different planets. I am actually delighted, we are regaining momentum."

A BBC projection based on the votes in councils in England and Wales put Labour's national vote share at just 24%, 20 points behind David Cameron's Conservatives on 44% and beaten into third place by the Liberal Democrats on 25%.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.